Man Charged with Murder in Harbor Drowning

Chicago Tribune 9/5/07
Police charged a 31-year-old Chicago man with first-degree murder today in the death of a fisherman who drowned in Montrose Harbor.
A judge set bail at $1.5 million.
John J. Haley, of Logan Square, admitted to pushing 62-year-old Du Doan into the water, police said. Doan, who could not swim, drowned.
At 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, Haley was at Montrose Harbor with five others when he told his friends that he was going to push someone in the water, said prosecutor Maria McCarthy.
His friends tried to hold him back, said McCarthy, but Haley broke free and pushed Doan into the harbor in what McCarthy called a random act of violence. Emergency medical personnel pronounced Doan dead after pulling him from the water.
Later Haley was “laughing and bragging” about the incident, said McCarthy, citing statements from Haley’s friends.
Marc Gottreich, Haley’s lawyer, said those statements were “self-serving at best.” Haley had no intention of hurting Doan, said Gottreich, who stopped short of calling the incident an accident.
“He turned himself in,” said Gottreich.
Haley first approached Channel 2 News, who escorted him to a police station after conducting an interview.
This is the second time Haley has pushed someone into the waters of Lake Michigan this summer, prosecutors said.